Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power
by TooManyGoodCharacters143
Summary: Four cartoon characters on a quest to become the greatest band in the world. Includes minor characters from Zatch Bell, along with ones from other animes and cartoons. Some characters are related to anime characters.
1. Episode 1

This is the story of two mamodo who strived for fame, fortune and awesomeness. The story of a clown-thing and a dragon-thing striving for the chance to be that band that changes everything. This is...

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power**

**Chapter One: "When are we gonna make it big?"**

This is a world where animated characters and humans lived together in peace. Ever since a portal was established between our world and theirs, animated characters have been migrating to Earth in steady waves. They come for exploration, money, new beginnings, and other purposes. Alm and Gelios have come to be rockstars. However, the journey won't be easy, and they will encounter many obstacles on the road to power. Their story begins as the sit in their apartment after collecting their payment for acting on the popular show "Zatch Bell"...

"Hey Alm...when are we gonna make it big?"

"Soon, man...soon."

"..."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to the store!"

* * *

**THE MAIN CHARACTERS**

Alm: A mamodo from a world called the Makai. He came to Earth to become a rockstar with his best friend Gelios. He is 21 human years old and has the appearance of an evil-looking clown with oval-shaped eyes that are completely yellow. On his head he has what looks like a blue hat with four long spikes. A curl of light-brown hair sticks out from under this, suggesting that it may actually be a hat after all. He usually wears red sleeves, blue boots, and a blue...underwear-tight thing...His personality is very ambitious, and he's usually quite hyper.

Gelios: Another mamodo. He is 21 human years old and is a giant purple dragon with pointy ears, green eyes, and a white mouth area and underbelly. He can change his size, a trait that grew with his family's disgust at being so freaking big over that years. He has a generally calm personality, but he can freak out when something exciting happens.

* * *

At the store, Alm and Gelios purchased the guitars that they would be using for the rest of their lives. Alm got a Gibson Flying V, while Gelios chose a Firebird of the same brand.

Gelios:So, what now?

Alm:We could go to a record label.

-At the record label-

Alm: Hi, can we-

SLAM

-At Alm and Gelios' place-

Gelios:Well, that didn't go too well.

Alm:Yeah...I wonder how that guy got a door installed on his desk? Is must have cost a lot of money.

Gelios:Well...I guess we could always do some gigs and get noticed...

After the gigs

Alm: Well, nobody noticed us...

Gelios:Why don't we look in the paper...

Alm:Yeah, let's do that.

they look in the paper

Gelios:Crap, crap, hot dog vendor...Hey, here's one!!!

Alm:Eh? Alm was looking through another paper at this point, and comes over to where Gelios is

Gelios:It's a big ad, in today's paper...

The ad said something like this:

LOS ANGELES BATTLE OF THE BANDS AUDITIONS

3/31/XX

ALL BANDS WELCOME

3 LOCATIONS

50 BANDS WILL SUCCEED TO GO ON TO THE SECOND ROUND

Alm:Alright! This is our chance! We gotta get to those auditions!

Gelios:Yeah...but...we're not gonna be able to win with just us...It'll take some time, but...we're gonna need more band members.

Alm:Damn...I knew it would come to this sooner or later...Well, we're gonna need to find a drummer first. I guess we could auditions

-At the auditions in some undisclosed auditorium-

Alm: Wow, what a big turnout! So, you guys think you're good at drums?

Everybody: HUH?

Alm: What?

Audience Member:Drums? We were here to see the Pussycat Dolls!

Alm: What?

Another Audience Member: Yeah! Search For the Next Doll!

Everybody:YEAH!!!

Alm: Well, there must have been some kind of mistake-

The First Audience Member: NO!!!

At this point the audience member started shaking madly and took out a gun, which he aimed at Aim.

Audience Member: I will kill you if you do not comply with my orders! Let the mayor know his wife is in danger!!!

Alm:gulp Sir, I think you're in the wrong place-

Audience Member:NOOOO!! If you don't comply I will tell my men to shoot your father!!!

Alm(who is seriously sweating by now): Sir, my father is in a different world-

Audience Member:IT DOESN'T MATTER!! By the time I-

And then he fainted and started foaming at the mouth. But by this point Alm was probably somewhere near New Mexico.

* * *

**NOTES:**

PCell Records, mentioned in the ad, is owned by Perfect Cell from Dragonball Z. If there's something you don't understand, or something I want to tell you about this fic, there should be a note about it down here.

The Pussycat Dolls: Search For the Next Doll is a reality show based on the group The Pussycat Dolls, which is composed of all women who are thought to have no actual talent at all because they just dance around in the videos. The show was made to recruit another group member, and probably to get more publicity for the band because no one likes it. This stuff is pretty dated now, but whatever.


	2. Episode 2

Before the episode starts I'd just like to tell you that it's about February 27th right nowin this fic. And yes, this couldn't wait 'till the end of the episode. The ending's too good, I don't want anything spoiling the feeling.

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power**

**Episode 2: Lee**

"ARGH!!!!" Alm yelled at the tops of his lungs. "We NEED to find a drummer!" Alm and Gelios were sitting in their apartment, angry at the events of the audtions. Though I think it's safe to say that Alm was much more angry about it then Gelios.

"I'm sure we'll find one..." Gelios said. "How hard can it be?"

"Aparrently..." Alm said through clenched teeth as he banged his fist on the table, "Very." "If we want a drummer, we're gonna have to go looking for one on our own."

"And he's gonna have to be good." said Gelios "Really good."

"Wow, you're really good!" they said to the homeless man performing on the sidewalk.

"Thanks, said the man. "The name's Lee."

* * *

**MAIN CHARACTERS II**

Lee: Lee is a 27-year old man (animated man that is), and an excellent drummer. He is about average size, and wears clothes similar to those a samurai would, all green with large sleeves and pant legs. He has black hair (A bowl cut), with circle shaped eyes and large rectangular eyebrows. He also has a small moustache and goatee. He almost always has a cool attitude, and is usually pretty hyper. He's the kind of person that makes you happy whenever you're around him, regardless of your current mood.

* * *

"Um...Do you wanna join a band?" Alm asked. Lee looked around. 

"Maybe...but we'll have to discuss is over a drink. And you're buying."

-At a local bar-

Alm: I'll have the, uh...Budweiser is the most popular one, right? Just gimmie a...pint of homestyle grog. he turns to the others It was popular among pirates.

Gelios: I'll have something with grapes.

Lee: I'll have some Coke...turns to Alm and Gelios I don't drink alchohol. My family has this thing where we freak out if we drink even a drop of alchohol.

Alm: So...How long have you been playing the drums?

Lee:Ever since I was a little kid. I'm 27 now, by the way...My dad taught me. He's the greatest drum player ever..He's also really good at martial arts. My family supposedly descended from a powerful ninja few hundred years ago...But anyway, is this a rock band, or what?

Alm: Basically-

Gelios: But it doesn't hurt to get all emotional sometimes.

Lee: Nice. Who does what?

Alm: Well, I sing-

Gelios: It's really freeform, you can do anything you want.

Alm(who is a bit annoyed about Gelios interrupting him all the time): But we're gonna have to work hard, we're participating in the LA Battle of Bands, the auditions are on 3/31...

"Okay," Lee replied, "But I got one question. Do you really think you can do this?

Alm thought for about five seconds. "Uh, yeah, I guess..." he replies.

"I don't think you're really getting me." said Lee. "**Do you think**...**that you can do this**?"

Alm thought for another moment. DID he think him and Gelios could do this? He's trained for so long, and this might have been the only chance he had at fame...So he HAD to do it. "**Yes,**" Alm thought and said at the same time.** "Yes we can." **Gelios grinned.

"Good," Lee said. "Then I'm in."


	3. Episode 3, Part 1

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power**

**Episode 3: Cowgirl Edna, Part 1  
**

Hi, everybody. This episode is going to be a bit different because all this part will consist of is me telling you stuff that you're going to need to know in the upcoming episodes. There will also be some author's notes, which I'll start out with now. The most important issue to me is the absence of human characters. It's called a plothole, I don't have an excuse for it, just live with it and be assured that there are, in fact, humans in the world, like the bartender. Speaking of which, the grog that Alm ordered was a reference to One Piece, where grog is the name they give to basically every drink they drink, though it's probably their name for rum or brandy. About the date in this fic, it really doesn't matter, just know that there is a deadline they have to meet to get everything ready for the Battle of the Bands. Now, on to the interesting stuff. But be warned, what I'm about to tell you will freak you out. Not because it's disgusting or weird, but because of what I've done with these characters that are from an actual anime, and if you are a fan of that anime, you might be annoyed by the way I've used the character. And I'm sorry if that is the case, but this is what I want for this fanfic. So, without further ado...The story of the greatest band in the world.

It has been debated if animated people have more musical capacity than human people, and this has never really been proven. But if you were to ask the average person who was the greatest band in the world they would probably respond "Bebop." And here's the part where you go "Oh no he DIDN'T turn them into a band." Yes, I did. I turned the crew of the Bebop into a band. Once again, I'm sorry. Live with it. Bebop was a very unique band, composed of four members:

Spike, the lead singer, was the handsome "face" of the band, and had a voice deeper than you would have thought. Pretty much all he did was sing. But it was great.

Jet, the saxophonist, who also played other instruments. The oldest member of the band, his large lungs were perfect for playing the saxophone, which is what he did most of the time. Ironically, he also smoked.

Faye, the guitarist, bassist, harmonica player, or really anything that was required of her, she knew how to play a little of a lot of instruments, though she mostly excelled at guitar. She also liked to shower alot. No one ever knew why...

The last and youngest member of the band was Edward, the keyboardist. She was a free sprit, and her crazy attitude shocked many people. She is famous for using a keyboard that resembles a laptop, with two teirs of keys. Each teir had 44 keys, which, added together, makes the standard number of keys on a piano keyboard. In Japanese, 88 is said to mean "countless".

The band also had a dog named Ein, who many fans have called thier mascot. He was an unnaturally smart dog and had a good friendship with Edward.

Needless to say, the badn's style was undefinable, a medly of all genres. This style was the lifeblood of the band, who never had any help writing or composing their songs. But nothing good is forever...Bebop's tour ship crashed 16 years before our current story, killing all four members of the band and Ein. But there was still one person that would carry on the legacy of Bebop...and this person was Edna Yanna Sherman Lersoff VI.


	4. Episode 3, Part 2

Morning, LA, about 6:0

"Ahhhhhh...Yawn."

Waking up, the girl thinks to herself how wonderful her life is...yet there is one more thing she wants...

"...Band auditions?"

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power**

**Episode 3: Cowgirl Edna, Part 2**

"You finished with those flyers, Alm?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good. We should have some people coming soon"

Soon, the final member of Alm and Gelios' band would arrive, and they would finally be able to focus on winning the Battle. ANY INSTRUMENT, the flyer had said. It didn't mention any specific age, though...

"Lee! Wake the hell up!" Alm yelled at the man lying on the couch.  
"Hrg...Sorry, man...Good dreams..."  
"Do you know what time it is!?"  
"Ugh...What are you, my mother?"  
"Well, you're not paying any rent around here, so you could at least do SOMETHING!"

"Guys, stop fighting..." Gelios said. As if he had known what was coming, there was a knock on the door."I am here for the auditions!" said a large man."Instrument?" said Gelios casually. "Air guitar."  
"Sorry...we're not that kind of band."  
"Awww...But you said any instrument."  
"Not THAT kind of instrument."  
"Awwwwwwww..."  
The man left with his back hunched. "Well...that's showbiz." Alm said. "We're not IN showbiz..." replied Gelios. Alm sighed. "We'd better find another member soon, or no record deal for us..."  
"Don't worry...I'm sure they'll come sooner or later."

SOONER

Alm: These people suck, the day's almost over... Gelios: Maybe our expectations are too high...  
Lee: Don't worry, guys. Just keep waiting and someone will eventually come...

LATER

knock knock

Curiously, no one got up. And why should they, for the person behind the door would probably be as incompatible as everyone else? So, Alm had two choices: Open the door, in hopes that this person would be different then the others, or just sit there, because this person would be exactly the s-KNOCK KNOCK "Okay, I'm coming!" Alm yelled. The other band members looked at him, and he shrugged. "This'll be the last one, okay?" he said to them. "Hmph." Lee and Gelios hmphed. Alm sighed, but not before there was another knock on the door. "**OKAY**!!" Alm yelped. Alm opened the door to see a girl about his height, with long orange hair and semi-dark skin, dark but not dark enough to be African-American. She was carrying a sack over her shoulder. "And who are you?" "Edna!" The girl smiled from ear to ear. _Ugh,_ Alm thought. _Edna. Her parents must have been really rich and stupid..._ "Er...Age?" "Fifteen!" Edna said, holding up both hands...And one foot. "And you don't think you're too young to be in a band?" "Nope. My mum was in a band. Bebop. Bebop-a-lu-la." Everyone was quiet. Ever since they had seen the girl, they thought she looked a bit familiar, and they couldn't possibly doubt was she had said. _This is too good to be true,_ they thought. _The daughter of Edward from Bebop! In our band! But wait,_ Alm thought. "Um..." he thought for a second. "Do you play any instruments?" _Of course!_ The other thought. _What if she's a terrible musician, just wanting to get in on account of her mother's fame?_ "Keyboard, of course!" said Edna happily. _No surprise there._ Alm thought. "I have one in my sacky." "Oh..." Alm thought. _She really could be good..._ "Well, you'd better come in and show us how you play." Alm moved aside and Edna strolled into the apartment. "Wow..." Edna said, her eyes wide in awe. Alm noticed that she was barefoot. "It's so pretty..." "Well, it's a home," Alm said. "And wow, a dragon!" Edna looked at Gelios in admiration. "You must be so strong and courageous..." "Well, I played a strong and courageous dragon on TV," Gelios replied, finding Edna's personality enjoyable. "And...What a nice goatee!" The bandmates saw that Edna wasn't trying to impress them, her expression showed that she actually thought they were totally awesome. "Well, I take care of it as good as I can," smirked Lee. "So...You all live here?" Edna expression had changed from awe to questioning. _There goes all that "You're awesome" stuff..._ Alm thought. "Uh, yeah, we do. Me and Gelios-the dragon-were roomates until we accepted Lee into the band, and he was homeless, so- "_You're _homeless _too?" Great,_ Alm thought. _My apartment is becoming a homeless musician shelter..._

"Well," Alm said briskly, "Play something for us." _And only because you're royalty_... Edna got out one half of a keyboard, and then another half, and put them together, as the band watched in awe, or something like that. Edna thought for a bit. "So...What do you want me to play?" "Er...Anything." Edna's face screwed up with thought. "You tell me what to play." _Gah, _Alm thought, his face expressing his feelings, _What's wrong with you? You can't even think of a song to play! Let's see...Definitely not dance music... _"How about...some classic rock? We _are_ a rock band." Edna's face once again screwed up with thought, and then-"Okay! This is...Boston, I think." And she launched into a lightning-fast keyboard crescendo of epic proportions, starting out slow and building until it became a cannonball of music, hitting you head-on with pure musical force-And then, nothing but a few repeated notes-And again, a barrage of electric notes fired at you at the speed of light! And then it was over. "So?"

The band was stunned. Lee shook his head, having had the sensation that he had gotten up too fast, his eyes fogging up with color so he couldn't see. Alm's mouth hung open in amazement, and Gelios merely smiled slyly, knowing that they had found the final member of their band.

* * *

Note: The song that Enda plays at the end of the episode is, in fact, a real song. It's called Foreplay, track 3 on the CD Boston by Boston, actually called Foreplay/A Long Time. So there you are. 


	5. Episode 4

Author's Note: Alright, this episode is going to create a few Naruto-timeline-related plotholes. But remember that the actual shows, are, well, shows, in this fanfictions, as Alm and Gelios will talk about in this episode. Though there can be a viable explanation for all of this, I'm not going to say it now because that would be stupid because the episode hasn't even started yet. It starts now.

"Now...we train." Alm's voice rang out, at least in his imagination, in the imaginary corridors of the training arena or apartment. "Now...we train." Gelio's gruff voice rang out, again only in his imagination, as he stared at the imaginary crimson walls of this kind of great place. "Now...we train!" Lee's raspish voice rang out in what he thought of as a coliseum, a word he probably spelled wrong in his head. "Now...we train! HYAH!" Edna's voice rang out as she threw a kick in the imaginary musky air of the imaginary traininarium. "YeeeeeAH!" The whole band said at once.

"Well, that was pretty lame." Lee said. "Aw yeah." Alm replied. "But it was still cool as hell. Like David Bowie. LIKE DAVID BOW-alright, let's cut the crap and get training."

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise to Power**

**Episode Four: Training Shenanigans and Lame Episode Titles**

At the apartment, as if you needed telling

"So," Alm began. The four were all gathered around the circular table. Alm had his hands pressed on the table. "Before we get to the musical part, we need to know who we're up against. Gelios has kindly compliled some info on the two best bands we're going to be up against. Gelios?" If there were a camera, it would have panned over to Gelios. "The first important band is SandSteel, composed of three siblings. Their genre is almost death metal, but with more focus on guitar. The lead singer is Gaara, the youngest, the guitarist is Temari, the oldest, and the drummer is Kankuro, obviously in the middle. All three of them have considerable skill, though you really want to watch out for Temari. Nobody truly knows how good they are, as they very rarely do gigs, and apparently people are told not to talk of them, probably for reputational reasons of some sort. So we may not need to worry about them at all. But we DO need to worry about our second band. alm, do you remember, on the set of Zatch Bell, a small girl with purple hair and horns?" "Uh...Yeah, I think so." Alm and Gelios had told the other band members about their breif acting careers. "Well," Gelios started up again, "She's the lead singer and guitarist of this band, Laila and the Moonstones. The band has gained considerable popularity through their nostalgic 1980's style, apparently reslembling the artist Blondie, who we're going to need to listen to to know what we're up against. The other five members of the band are unimportant, except for the second guitarist and Laila's assitant Patie, who we also saw on the set of Zatch Bell playing Penny. Having all the members, the band has everything. Backup, drums, keyboard, the works. So they'll be hard to beat. And that's it." "Hm..." Lee was thinking. "I think I heard of SandSteel somewhere before..." "Well that's really interesting, but we have more pressing matters to attend to," Alm began seriously. "We must listen to every type of music in the infinite dimensions, alright, maybe not that much, but a lot of it. So, uh, we'll just use this radio here-" he pointed to a radio on the windowsill. "and we'll spend the rest of the day listening and taking notes having to do with our main part in the band, I guess. So..." "Uh, maybe we could, like, put our tails, or hands, in a circle and 'break' like they do on TV." Gelios suggested, as if you didn't know that was a suggestion. "Alright fine, but we gotta say 'Thrash'." Alm replied. "Alright..." Alm put his hand on the table. Gelios put his tail on top of Alm's hand. Lee put his hand on top of Gelios' tail, and Edna put her hand on Lee's. "And..." Alm started. The band paused. They knew that this was the true beggining of something awesome, so awesome that even Chuck Norris and Morgan Freeman combined couldn't defeat it. And they didn't have any doubts about that.

**"THRASH!"**

-Later that day- "Oh, oh, oh, it's magic..." The radio blasted. "You kno-o-ow..." Alm sang. "Never believe it's not so!" Everyone sang in a falsetto voice. "Love that song." Lee asserted. "...Who's it by?" Edna questioned. "No idea." repleid Alm. The day since the big whateveritwas had pretty much been like this. They knew most of the songs played, and switched to various stations, and fit in some newer music as well. And, before they knew it, it was night. Late night. Like, 2:00 AM night. Edna yawned. "Maybe we should go to bed, guys..." she muttered. "No..." Alm said, straining to talk. "We must...keep going..." There was a silence. "Um, guys," Gelios started. "Is there even any music playing?" There was another silence. "I'm pretty sure I hear some Aerosmith." Alm said. "That's strange," Lee mumbled, "Because I hear Queen." "Uh..." said Alm, nodding in the sleepy kind of way. "Maybe we should go to bed..." But they forgot about the "bed" part.

The next morning

"Huh!' Lee's head jolted up from the table with a peice of newspaper stuck to it. "What a weird dream..." he muttered, thinking about the strange turtle that had followed him around and barked orders at him. He looked around to see that his fellow band members were all asleep, and that the sun was a little too bright for the time they had planned to wake up. "Hey, wait a minute..." He looked at the digital clock that rested upon the windowsill. "...OH MY GOD!" At this, both Alm and Gelios were jolted up, but Edna only muttered something incomprehensible. "Whazza..." Alm said. "We're late, we're late for the thing!" "What thing?" Gelios replied in a sleepy voice. "The thing! The first round! I mean, we're-" "WHAT!?" Alm yelled, now fully awake. "Oh boy," Gelios, um, man I need more verbs...said. "How could we possibly have-" Alm began in a frenzied voice, before being interrupted by Lee. "Woah, woah, We're not REALLY late, but we only have about fifteen minutes." "Alright, so we can still make it!" Alm stated, composed. "We just need to gather our instruments, get to the bus stop, and wait for the bus! I think there's a stop near the place where the auditions are being held...C'mon Gelios, let's go!" "You got it man!" Gelios said. "But, uh, what are we going to do about Edna?" he questioned, pointing his tail at the still-sleeping girl.

-A few minutes later-

Alm, Gelios, and Lee are dashing down the street, Alm with both guitar bags slung around his back, Lee holding his drums (he only has two, as it's been stated he's not exactly Richie Rich, but they're not kiddie drums or anything) and his sticks, And Gelios slithering alongside with his tail curled around Edna, who had still not waken. The bus came into view as they turned a corner. It was pulling into the stop, and the last passenger, a heavy-set guy with large glasses and long hair, was getting in. "Hey, wait!" Alm yelled. "Wait up!" Lee similarly vocalized, his voice almost screeching. "We'll get there in time guys, don't worry." Gelios said, and he was right, as a look of recognition (and annoyance) came onto the bus driver's face. The door was kept open as the four stumbled onto the bus, Alm having to turn sideways to fit the guitar slings and Gelios having to squeeze himself in (there's a limit to how much he can shrink, it may be a lame plot device but it's not a superpower), Ed still muttering things about fish in his tail's grasp. After Lee smoothly stepped onto the bus, the doors closed, and the band found their seats next to (Alm) and across from (the rest of them) the guy who had gotten on before they had. They all sat quietly, anticipating whatever trails that were to come.

* * *

Phew! Great episode, huh? At least that's what I think, compared to the others, but I'm always ready for some constructive criticism. So , about the Naruto thing, what I've though of is that in the world where Lee, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara come from, the events of the manga Naruto are all ancient history. Today, there is a TV show running (in a multitude of worlds) based off of those events, and all the characters that we know and maybe love are the actors in that show. So, that means that the memebrs of Sandsteel are also actors, which would probably give them an edge on the competition in the Battle of the Bands, and it _also_ means that somewhere out there, there is an actor who looks exactly like the Rock Lee from the manga, and plays our Lee's ancestor Rock Lee on the TV show. All this world crossing can get complicated, but I'm trying to do the best I can.


	6. Episode 5

**DISCLAIMAH:** All things are owned by their things, especially the songs. My laziness in writing is owned by me.

**RETCON RUMBLE:** There are now no humans in the Thrash universe. None. Nada. Anything said about them in previous episodes is moot. The universe is a combo of all the anime universes and our world too, just without the humans. Everyone's animated. That's it.

* * *

The band sat on the bus and the bus arrived at the place and the auditions began. Phew! Yeah. Now the story can actually start!

**Thrash: Alm and Gelios' Rise To Power**

**Episode Five: Warning: Auditions are Much More Serious than they Appear on TV**

The first round auditions were held in a modest performing arts center, the usual type, with architecture that's fancy, but not too fancy, with lots of curves, where all the signs are made of powdered glass with words carved into it. As said, the band got off the bus, and upon seeing the place, were not too amused. Lee, always with the witty observation, said "This is like that one movie I saw, where Hilary Duff was in that music school and it looked a little bit like this...." Alright, that wasn't witty at all, but the man speaks his mind, what do you want from him!? The only one really in awe was Edna, because she's in awe of everything. She walked around with wide eyes and oohed and aahed at the red velvet carpets, which she wanted to do carpet-angels on, but was focused more on the auditions at the time. The rest of the band had woken her up during the bus ride by calling her by her full assumed name, which you can find at the end of part one of chapter three, but I suggest you don't because it's terrible. I'm not self-loathing, it's just really really bad. Yes, there's going to be a lot more narraration like this, because that's the new style. I hope you like it. While the band was walking through the entrance hall, they spotted another group of people across the room. "Hey," Gelios leaned in and said to Alm, "That's Laila and her band." Alm looked over to see the small, purple-haired girl waving her moon-topped-wand around and saying something to the rest of the band. "Looks like they have some kind of game plan." Gelios continued. "It's alright," Alm replied, still walking with the rest of them, now entering a large hallway. "Our pure rock power will always rise to the top." Gelios paused. "That was cool, but really, we should have at least SOME type of plan," he said. "Well," Alm started, "Um...." he ended. ......Then he started again. "I guess we'll just play cover songs for the first audition, I think that's what a lot of people will be doing, and do an original for the finals." Thrash had had a few original songs that they were prepping for an album. One of them was a song that Alm and Gelios were sure would make them legends in the rock world. The name and contents of this song were so awesome that the band would never reveal it to anyone other then themselves until they had released its power. It was their secret weapon, and they weren't going to use it just yet.

And so, the preliminary rounds of auditions began. All the bands had to do was play some of a song in front of a panel of judges whose names don't really matter. Thrash got through easily by playing "Hazy Shade of Winter" all acoustic, with limited keyboard backing. The judges applauded their "Cool, eighties-hipster-monster style" and their "Irish look". In the entrance hall where they were to wait for the second round on auditions, which was going to be held the same day, they saw that their two competitors were still in the running. The members of SandSteel were looking cool and composed as usual. Lee wanted to walk over and tell them that their name sounded like an uneeded third level Pokemon, but he didn't want to start a fight, so he stayed put. But one of their other competitors wasn't. "So, I hear you're pretty good," a voice said from behind him. He turned around to see Laila, the diminutive, purple-haired moon fairy. "Huh!? Who told you that!?"  
"Oh, just some people..._around..._" Her eyes narrowed. "So....What are you gonna do if you win?"  
"_Well..._" he stooped down to her height. "If you _reall_y wanna know, we're just gonna lay low for awhile, hone our craft, then burst onto the scene and do what we were always meant to do-Be the best, y'know, start a revolution. That's what we're gonna do." There was a long pause as Laila started at hm. "Hmph," she finally said. "You're more noble then I thought. See you later." She turned around and walked away. _Hm, _Alm thought. _She's not so bad..._

The auditions continued on schedule. The Semi-finals were much like the first round. Only the finals would be performed before a crowd. Once again, Thrash performed in front of a panel of judges, different from the last ones. This time, they played "You Could Be Mine" (which, for those who might be fooled by the title, is totally a rock song), with some extra guitar action added in, and were praised for their teamwork, their rockin' style which one of the judges said "could catch a deaf person's attention", and, once again, their "Irish look". It was clear that they were just as good as they thought they were. Alm knew it wasn't good to get too cocky, but he also knew that him, Gelios, and the others made a great team.

There weren't nearly as many bands in the entrance hall this time. There were only about six, including Thrash. Sandsteel was still there, but Laila's band was nowhere to be seen. "Hm," Alm said. "I wonder if they didn't make it?" "Yeah, I guess not." Lee replied. They actually sort of felt bad for the other band. They seemed like good people, and they wouldn't have gotten to the second round if they weren't somewhat good. Thier musing, however, was interrupted by a loud "WOO!" from the hallway where they had walked out from. To their surprised, out walked Laila, followed by the utterer of the woo, a very happy girl, about Laila's age, with blue hair that had two giant pigtails that stuck up into the air. "We did it!" she said, the other three members of the band following the two. "Lemme tell ya, I was nervous there for a second! But I know I never should've been, we were the best!" She put up her hand to high-five Laila, who did, but not that ecstatically. She was clearly thinking about the more serious aspects of the competition, thought she did have time to spare a glance at Thrash and give a sly wink. Alm felt a mix of happiness and anger that their main competitor was still in the competition. Gelios chuckled, as if he knew they were going to come in late all along, and it's likely he did.

But THIS musing was interrupted by other footsteps. Four people were coming out of a different hallway. Three were the judges, the fourth was a short, light-purple-skinned person whose age was hard to place, and though he looked like a boy he had a knowing smile that suggested a much older persona. He had a floppy white mohawk of hair, and was dressed in a regal outfit of light and dark blue. He also had two earrings hanging from his pointed ears. "Could you please all gather around me?" he said in a wise voice. Everyone walked closer to him and the other judges. "Hi," he said. "I'm Supreme Kai, the organizer of this competition. I'm very pleased to inform you that you are the finalist in this Battle of the Bands. All you need to know it that the finals will be here, at 7 O'clock PM, in exactly one week. Each band will play one original song, and the winner will be asked to encore, so hopefully you should have something ready for that as well...As you know, the winning band will recieve a record deal with PCell records, placing you among some of the best musicians ever to exist. There are no forms needed to confirm your place in the finals as everything needed was already filled out by you before the auditions. On behalf of me, the judges, and PCell records, good luck." He turned around and walked back into the hallway, the judges following him. All the bands stood in the huge, empty room for a moment, and then walked out one by one. It clear that this was not fun and games anymore. In one week, the finals would be held, and there are no suitable words to describe the awesomeness that would occur. There aren't, really. See you next time, folks!!!


End file.
